I'm looking for both of these cars but will only be buying one of them. I'm wondering which would be the better car? Does one rust more than the other does one of these handle like shit? I can only get opinions on these cars from reading posts on their respective fan forums which doesn't really give me the objective opinion i'm looking form.

I like the looks of the Celica more but would likely be buying one that has some kind of an engine swap since i've seen a number with 7M and 2JZ swaps being passed around. However I am also a Z car fan and owned a 280ZX in the past (a non-turbo shitted out hand me down) and I know it was fairly easy to find parts for but this was around 20 years ago and I like the L28ET in the Z.

Find the nicest example you can of either and you'll be happy, it sounds like. I wasn't looking specifically for an FC when I found mine, but it was the nicest '80s Japanese sports car I had found for sale at the time. I was looking at Supras and Z-cars but I'd rather have my minty FC than either of those ragged out. Keep your eyes peeled, be dilligent, be realistic, and have fun!

i liked my 82 supra , it had 247,xxx miles on it and ran great but it smoked like crazy. the valve seals go bad on them so look for that. also stay away from 82`s they have alot of 1 year only parts and they aren't made anymore.main reason i sold mine.

Thanks for the advice, I love these early 80s japanese cars and thought they would be a toss up and will just see which is the best I can find then.

Is there any other similar cars I should look for? These and the RX7 are really the only japanese sports cars from this era that I know. I considerd a RX7 but i'm not a big rotary fan at all, bad mpg + burning oil is probably not a good idea for me since i plan on splitting miles with my current car (35 mile one way commute) and driving it to cali (from vegas) every other month.

The MX73, 85-88 Toyota Cressida is a good one to look at. Pros: Drive train is pretty much MkII Supra. Four Door car, plenty of room for friends. The chassis will take just about any modern Toyota engine. Since they were luxury for the time, they are usually well cared for and non-abused. They are cheaper than Supras in the same condition.

Cons: Aftermarket support is pretty much non-existant, but it is the same with the Supra. Price is starting to climb as the popularity with drifters rises. Four lug makes rims a bit difficult, but getting better. The aftermarket support you can find is a bit expensive, but worth the price. Parts are a bit hard to find from the dealers, but internet makes it easy.

I don't know a lot about 280s, but I can say the Supras are very reliable cars. The M family(and JZ) engines are extremely tough. In terms of mechanical parts, you can generally find all you need to repair/replace supras. However the aesthetics such as door trim/rubber/interior pieces are becoming extinct. Toyota has discontinued many of these available parts. My 1985 window trim is showing its age, but thats okay. I don't drive in the rain!